The retail technology week in numbers
12,000…Online retailer The Hut Group has acquired a 12,000 sq. ft. ground floor and basement space within the 100 King Street building in Manchester city centre. It will convert the former Jamie’s Italian restaurant site into a ‘World of The Hut Group’ retail and experiential marketing space, designed to showcase its health and beauty brands.
$2.55…Walmart’s Mexico unit has launched grocery deliveries from its Superama stores via WhatsApp. Superama customers can text an order to a WhatsApp number run by Walmart. The former charges 49 pesos ($2.55) for delivery within 90 minutes, or 39 pesos ($2.03) for a later time, and accepts payment in cash or by card upon delivery.
44%…Despite the stereotypes of “digital natives”, Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to increase their shopping in physical stores this year than any other generation. Yet 44% of retailers have made no progress in tailoring the in-store experience. That’s according to research from Oracle NetSuite, Wakefield Research and The Retail Doctor, involving 1,200 consumers and 400 retail executives across the US, UK and Australia.
1…Grocery chain, Hy-Vee, has become the first retailer in the US to partner with the Citrus retail media platform.
48…Amazon is extending its Prime Day extravaganza from 36 to 48 hours.
$9 million…Supplement brand The Nue Co. has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Waldencast, the venture capital firm founded by ex-L’Oreal President of Consumer Products, Michel Brousett. The company will use the cash to grow its direct-to-consumer subscription offering.
£16…A mother of five has been banned from every Asda store in the country due to what she describes as faulty scan-as-you-go technology. Beth Robinson, 31, claims the scanner failed to pick up £16 of items.
20…US-based crypto venture DigitalMint has teamed with convenience store chain, Circle K, installing 20 Bitcoin ATMs across Arizona and Nevada as part of a pilot programme.
1,000…Walmart is tapping computer vision technology to monitor checkouts and deter theft and other causes of shrinkage in more than 1,000 US stores.
£11 billion...UK retailers are experiencing annual losses of £11 billion due to shrinkage, the highest of any country in Europe, according to a new report released by Checkpoint Systems.